Many vehicles today include onboard computers that perform a variety of functions. For example, onboard computers control operation of the engine, control systems within the vehicle, provide security functions, perform diagnostic checks, provide information and entertainment services to the vehicle, perform navigation tasks, and facilitate communications with other vehicles and remote driver-assistance centers. Telematics service systems, for example, provide services including in-vehicle safety and security, hands-free calling, turn-by-turn navigation, and remote-diagnostics.
On-board computers also facilitate delivery to the driver of information and entertainment, which are sometimes referred to collectively as infotainment. Infotainment can include, for example, data related to news, weather, sports, music, and notifications about vehicle location and nearby traffic. Infotainment can be delivered in any of a wide variety of forms, including text, video, audio, and combinations of these.
Mobile devices, such as smartphones, have given consumers access to a growing number of applications anytime anywhere. However, these applications are of limited use while driving, and even the most advanced car infotainment systems cannot match functionality offered by most smartphone applications.
Recently, a group known as the Car Connectivity Consortium has been developing standard specifications referred to as MirrorLink™ (or also referred to herein simply as MirrorLink) that govern smartphone-automotive interoperability. A goal of MirrorLink technology is to provide a standard for interoperability of smartphones with in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems. MirrorLink specifies protocols that allows devices (e.g., such as smartphones) to communicate with in-vehicle computer systems. One specific goal of MirrorLink is to provide a system that can be used to communicate display content generated by an application running on a smartphone, and replicate the display content from the smartphone onto display located within a vehicle so that the content appears on the display and is more easily viewed by the user. MirrorLink (previously known as Terminal Mode) provides mechanisms for seamless connectivity between a smartphone and a vehicle's infotainment system. The consumer merely gets into the car, connects their smartphone to the infotainment system (e.g., with a cable or Bluetooth link), and immediately gains access to phone applications through car controls such as the navigation screen and steering wheel buttons. MirrorLink is designed to enable a driver to control a nearby smartphone from the steering wheel or via dashboard buttons and screens. This allows consumers to access their smartphone in the same way they access their car radio, while keeping their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel. In short, MirrorLink technology will provide a way to transform mobile devices (e.g., mobile wireless communication devices such as cellular telephones also referred to as “smartphones”) into automotive application platforms thereby bringing in the mobile application ecosystem into the vehicle so that robust mobile applications can be leveraged in vehicle infotainment systems.
One drawback of the systems that are described above is that they require a smartphone (or other consumer electronics device) that is capable of acting as a “MirrorLink” server to the infotainment system.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide alternative methods and systems for implementing MirrorLink server type functionality without requiring a special consumer electronics device to be present within the vehicle. It would also be desirable to provide alternative methods and systems for executing applications, which would otherwise traditionally be executed at a consumer electronics device, to provide content that can be presented via a user interface within the vehicle. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.